GUWAHATI, Aug 23 - Shishu Sarothi organised two workshops on sexual health and sexual rights of youth with disability from August 18 to 20 in collaboration with Point of View, a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation that works for promotion of women�s points of view through a creative and sustained use of media, art and culture.
On August 18 and 19, a training-cum-workshop was held for teachers and special educators, where 30 teachers and special educators from Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan and NGOs including Swabalambi, Sahayika Child Guidance Centre, Asha Rehab Centre, NIPCCED, Monovikash, Saraswati Bagdhwani participated.
�It is very important that youth with disabilities should also receive appropriate sexual health education, as they experience the same physical and emotional changes as their peers who do not have disabilities. Educators have the responsibility of assisting students in their growth and development and sexuality is part of that growth. That is why educators should have resources and support available to meet the needs of their students,� says Arman Ali, executive director, Shishu Sarothi.
The aim of the two-day training was to strengthen the understanding of disability, sexuality and gender rights and their intersections, the complexities that children and youth with disabilities face in expressing their identity; their relationship with their body; stigma on their sexual rights and needs; their consent in relationships, friendships and marriage; heightened vulnerability of abuse and legal redress.
The training was facilitated by Jyoti Gogoi, special educator, Shishu Sarothi in collaboration with Nidhi Goyal, director of the Sexuality and Disability programme of Point of View, and Srinidhi Raghavan, trainer and researcher, also from Point of View.
Another workshop on sexual health and rights for visually impaired youth with disabilities was organised at the Guwahati Blind High School. Thirty adolescents participated in it. The session talked about body literacy, choice, relationships and consent, navigating safe and unsafe situations, identifying violence and combating abuse, legal redresses and some solutions.